June 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Andean Community, a South American trade group, may suspend trade discussions with the European Union unless it revises a new immigration law, Ecuador's foreign minister said.

The European bloc unjustifiably toughened immigration rules, Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador told reporters in Quito today. Ecuador currently chairs the Andean group, which also includes Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.

The law approved June 18 by the EU parliament, and set to take effect in 2010, would give prison terms of as long as 18 months to illegal immigrants before sending them home. Around 400,000 Ecuadoreans have emigrated to Europe, mostly Spain and Italy, since a 1999 economic crisis.

Ecuador isn't planning to follow Venezuela and Bolivia's recommendation to cut the export of oil and natural gas to the EU, she added.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephan Kueffner in Quito at skueffner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 25, 2008 19:42 EDT